Drawer construction



June 12 1945 P. T. FRANKL 2,377,929

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 19. 1942 V HA @A2/s, K/fcH, Fos Tf@ d HA ,ee/5

Patented June l2, 19.45

UNITED `STA'I'S PATENT OFFICE DRAWER CONSTRUCTION i Paul inrrankl, Los Angeles, Calif. Application october 19, 1942, serial Naisaen v Coi. '31a- 149) 4 Claims.

My inventionrelates to a drawer construction, and more particularly to a` drawer construction especially adapted for use in a table` or other article of furniture. Consequently, it will be described in connection with such .an article of lfurniture, although it is to be understood that it may have other uses .and I do not intend to be limited to the specific embodiment disclosed and described. Il

It` is frequently desirable to provide a drawer construction in which one or more drawers are provided without projecting knobs or handles so' that when the same are in normally closed position the front faces thereof are flush with the face of the article of furniture in which they are installed. In such constructions it has ordinarily been necessary to provide finger grooves or other indentations to provide means whereby the drawer to be opened may be grasped by the fingers of the operator to facilitate the opening thereof. Such linger grooves or indentations usually detract from the appearance of the face of the drawer and may be undesirable.

It is therefore a primary object of my invention to provide a novel drawer construction for a plurality of drawers in which the faces of the drawers may be made perfectly flush when in closed position with the face of the table or other article in which they are installed, and in which such faces may be provided without handles, knobs, nger indentations, or other means whereby the operator may grasp the drawer to draw it outwardly to open position. I prefer to accomplish this by providing interconnecting mechanism between a pair of drawers whereby when one drawer is pushed inwardly the other drawer will be automatically moved outwardly toward open position.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following specification and the drawing, which are for the purpose of illustration only, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a table with my invention installed therein.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View taken. through the table of Fig. 1 illustrating the preferred embodiment of the mechanism of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows a table III, of standard construction, which includes a drawer I I and a drawer I2 which embody my invention. The drawers II and I2 are separated by a separating wall member I3 and are supported by tracks I4, I5, I6, and Il, as is well known in the art.

The wall member I3, adjacent its rearward end,

is provided with a transverse slot I9, through which extends a pivoted lever member 20 which is centrally pivoted therein by a vertical pivot pin 2l. The lever member is preferably provided with forwardly curved ends 22 and 23, the end 22 engaging the drawer I I and the end 23 engaging the position, as shown in Figs. l and 2, their front' faces 28 and 29 are flush with the plane of a facing member 30 which forms a part of the table l0. f

When it is desired to open one of the drawers I I or I2, such as, for example, the drawer I2, thedrawer II is pushed manually inwardly to the position indicated by dotted lines 32 in Fig. 2. Since the inner end of the drawer I I normally engages the end 22 of the pivoted lever member 2U,

inward movement of the drawer II causes the lever member to rotate in a counterclockwise direction on its pivot pin 2I to the position shown in dotted lines 33 of Fig. 2. Suchounterclockwise rotation of the lever member 20, by engage-y ment of the end 234 thereof with the inner end of the drawer I2, causes the drawer I2 to move outwardly to the position shown in dotted lines 34 of Fig. 2. In such position, the face 29 of the drawer I2 projects outwardly beyond the plane of the facing member 30 of the table I0, and the drawer I2 may be easily grasped and opened to the desired extent. As will be understood, when it is desired to open the drawer I I, the drawer I2 is pushed inwardly to rotate the lever member 20 in a clockwise direction and thus move the drawer II outwardly, as described above with regard to the opening of the drawer I2, but in a reverse direction.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description, my invention is particularly suited for adaptation in furniture, although I do not intend to be limited to such an embodiment of the invention,

is ush with said facing member and in the same plane, said first drawer being horizontally movable inwardly or outwardly relative to said facing member; a second horizontal drawer supported by said supporting means and having a front face which when said second drawer is in normally closed position is flush with said facing member and in said plane, said second drawer being horizontally movable inwardly or outwardly relative to said facing member; and actuating means engaging said drawers whereby-manual movement of either of said drawers inwardly from said plane causes outward movement of the other of saidv drawers relative to said plane, said actuating means being supported by said supporting means.

2. In a drawer construction, the combination of: supporting means having a facing member; a pair of adjacent horizontal drawers slidable horizontally inwardly and outwardly relative to said facing member and supported by said supporting means; a lever member centrally pivoted so that each of its ends engages one of said drawers when said drawers are in normally closed position, said lever member being rotatable in response to inward movement of either of said drawers relative to said facing member to move the other of said drawers outwardly relative to said facing member; and means for supporting said lever member.

3. In a drawer construction, the combination of: supporting means having a facing member; a pair of adjacent drawers each having a front face adapted to lie in the plane of said facing member when said drawer is closed, said drawers being movable inwardly and outwardly relative to said facing member from said closed position and supported by said supporting means; a pivoted member adapted to engage both of said drawers when the same are in closed position and rotatable in response to inward movement of one of said drawers from said closed position to move the other said drawer outwardly from said closed position, said other drawer being manually movable.

farther outwardly from said closed position out of engagement with said pivoted member; and

f either of said drawers from said closed position to move the other said drawer outwardly from said closed position, said other drawer being manually movable farther outwardly from said closed position out of engagement with said pivoted member; and means for supporting said pivoted member. PAUL T. FRANKL. 

